Dispenser for binder strap



April 13, 1954 w. c. CHILDRESS DISPENSER FOR BINDER STRAP 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed Feb. 9 1951 ,2 agm S April 13, 1954 wt. CHILDRESS 2,675,187

- DISPENSER FDRBINDER STRAP Filed Feb. 9, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedApr. 13, 1954 2,675,187 DISPENSER FOR BINDER STRAP William C. Childress,

111., a corporation of Oak Park, Ill., assignor to Signode SteelStrapping Company,

Delaware Chicago,

Application February 9, 1951, Serial No. 210,181

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to dispensers for binder strap, wire andsimilar material, and particularly those of the reel type which haveSteel strapping material, wire or the like, is normally supplied in acoil which is placed upon a reel and then pulled from the reel asneeded. There is, of course, considerable rotational inertia in the reeland coil system such that if the end of the strapping is pulled sharplyoutwardly the reel will continue to turn and may cause some tangling onthe reel. Also, for some applications it is desirable to have the reelturned directly by a power means such as an electric or compressed airmotor, for instance, so as to speed up the operation and reduce the workto be performed by the operator, but this of course will cause tanglingunless special means are used to prevent it.

In view of the above, it is one of the objects of the presentinventionto provide a novel dispensing reel assembly which will dispensecontinuous material such as strap when needed undr sufficient control toprevent there being any possibility of the material tangling upon thereel. Yet another object is to accomplish the above in an extremelysimple and reliable fashion.

Still another object is to accomplish the above by mechanism which doesnot add appreciably not wear rapidly.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide an improveddispensing reel assembly which is well adapted for either manual orpower operation without extensive changes.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription of a preferred embodiment of my invention which isillustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, in which similar characters of reference refer tosimilar parts throughout the several views:

Fig. l is a front view of a strap dispensing and cut-oif assemblyconstructed according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front end view thereof with a portion of the reel andassociated mechanism broken away so as better to disclose the structure;

view of a subassembly which is a portion of the mechanism used forkeeping the strapping tightly coiled upon the reel; and

. Fig. 4 is a side view of the subassembly shown in Fig. 3. i

By referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, it will be seen that a reel,indicated generally by the numeral I 0 is mounted upon a horizontal axlewhich is supported upon a pedestal i2 fixed to a base I 4. The base canbe a. frame of any suitable type or simply a flat steel plate as shown.The pedestal I 2 consists of a steel tube welded to the base M and ofappropriate height. Near its upper end the pedestal is drilledtransversely and a round rod I6 is inserted at one end and welded inplace so as to form a horizontal axle for the reel I 0 with this axle:extending transversely of the base I 4.

A steel sleeve l8 internally fitted with a bearing bushing 20 rotatesupon the axle it and carries a V-belt pulley 22 driven by a belt 2-;which leads to a prime mover 26 mounted upon the base M. The prime movershown is a compressed air motor but an electric motor may be substitutedif desired.

An inner disc shaped reel flange 28 is secured at its center to a steelsleeve 30 fitted over a bushing 32 of bearing metal which is jo'urnaledto rotate upon the axle HS in a position outward of the pulley bushing20. This sleeve 30 is retained against endwise outward movement by asnap ring 33 fitted to a circumferential groove in the outer end of theaxle I6. The sleeve 30 has several circumferential grooves 34 cuttherein, three being shown, which, as will be explained presently, adaptthe reel to take coils of strapping of different width.

A plurality of horizontal pins 35 direction over these pins. The pinsare welded to the surface of the rear reel plate 28 and extendtherethrough and are secured at their opposite ends by nuts 38 to thepulley 22 so that as the pulley is rotated, the reel plate 28 and pins36 rotate therewith.

The front reel plate indicated by the numeral 40 is formed as a steeldisc having the same diameter as the rear plate 2-8 with a circularopening at the center large enough to slide over the sleeve 30 in anendwise direction. This front plate also has a plurality of holes 42spaced about or bolt lit located just opening through the front plateHi. At the opyvardly and swinging the pivoted at approximately itsmidpoint to a pin to one side of the central posite side of this openinga headed pin 48 is also secured to the front reel disc l and this end ofthe latching lever 44 is formed to have an arcuate contour as indicatedat 50, the radius of this arc being approximately the distance betweenthe" pivot pin it and the portion of the headed pin 48 beneath itsshoulder. The latching lever 44, therefore, can be swung from side toside about the pin 46 and will beheld' in face to-face contact with thefront plate all by the heads on the pivot pin 46 and'the pin 53'.

At the end remote from the reel, the lever 44 is provided with a handle52 which is used to swing the lever. iromisidetoi side. This handle isattached to a pin Erlwhich passes through a sleeve 56 welded to the endof the lever 44 and at its extreme inner end has a detent extension 58whichprojects into either of two holes 60 formed in the face of thefront plate 40; The pin 54 also" is provided with a portion 62 of largerdiameter fitted to the sleeve 56 which bears against one end of a coilspring 64', the opposite end of which bears against a shoulder at'theoutward'end o-f the tblbular'sleeve 56. The portion of the latchinglever A l in alignment with'the sleeve-3a is cut away to provide-anarcuate slot fifi one end of which is slightly larger than theoutsidediameter of'the sleeve while the opposite end has a'width aboutequal-to the diameter 01 the sleeveat" the bottoms-of thecircumferential grooves 34. length and-is-so orientedthat when thehandle52 is pulled outwardly against the-pressure of the spring 64" so as torelease thed'etent '3 and is then swung 'so that the detent snaps intothe hole 60 in one'direction, the large end ofthe slot 55 will be inalignment with the central opening through the front plate 40"; therebypermitting thefront plate to be moved on or 01? the sleeve 36. Thefront'plate 40 can bepushed'over thesleeve 3i) and'latched in place bypulling the'kn'ob' 52 out-- lever Mi so thatthe detent 58' snaps intothe otherhol'e 5'8 with the lever caught in any one'of'thethree grooves3 1'; If'desired of course more or less grooves H can be": provided: soas to. fit the thicknesses of the coils :of strapping material normallyintended to 1 be'use'd with the. device. In order'to insurethecoverplate 40 beinglatched'in the proper position; and'to give additionalstiffness-towns assembly; it is worthwhile to: provide a group oi Thesesleeves V have aninternal. diameter: such that they slide" easily'overthesleeve 3.8; and have a? length suchspacing sleeves indicated at 68.

that one; two' on all three" are. usedi depending upon which of thecircumferential gro'ovesttt' is to:

be used inlatching the. cover plate as r in place:

As'shown in'Fig. lthelcoilzof strappingmaterialindicated'at H3 isnormallyplaced';uponthe reel with the free end=passing outwardly'totheright. from. the bottomof: the coil. It passes: between apairof.vertical: bracket side plates '12: M and spaced apart.

secured to the base plate a distance sufficientto" accommodate the frameshown in Fig. 3;

In Fig. 3 I haveshown a rectangular frame which is constructedof. side;top and bottom members notched: and

indicatedby-the numeral'l t :weldedtogether at; their ends. toiprovidea. rigid structure. An. axle. member it passes through: theframe atapproximately. itsmidpoint and hasan extension. at. each. side whichalso passes the axis of rotation .of

T position abovethe rollers through openings in the bracket plate 12,the axle I6 being retained in place in the brackets by means of cotterpins passed through holes 18 at the ends of the axle. The frame 14 is,therefore, fixed in place in the bracket 12 but can rock about the axle16. Within the frame the axle carries one or more, three being shown,rollers; preferably formedlofi rubber or the like; which are fitted attheir centers to bearing sleeves 82 which turn upon the axle 16. Thegroup of three rollers is, in the example shown, spacedifrommhe innerfaces of the side members of the frame 14 by washers 84. A similar setof rollers fit is nrounte'd upon a short axle 88 in a 80, with the axle8B extending'through openings 89 at the sides of the.-frame.14-.. Theseopenings are of consider ably larger diameter than the axle 88 so thatthe-rolls-BB are free to rotate and also to mov e upwardly anddownwardly to a limited extent relative-to the frame". L4:vmthirdesetaof rollers 9%: are. similarly; mounted. uporrv am axle 91passing: through; large diameter: holes; are in; the frame: 14 .1112position: below the centrally dis:- posed: rollersc:.-. i-

The two.- outward sets of; rollers: are Kept? in contact. with-the:centrakgroup means of a pair ofcoil springs 94'; the-upper ends: ofwhich: are hooked into i grooves- Q's-formed .aroundatheeupper shaft88=whilethein lower ends arecormect'edto adj ustment screws 9.8: whichpass: through trans.- verse' openings" near the ends oi. the lowter.axle 92-. The lower endsofe thesezscrewsare. fitted with nuts I 00'which canrbe'turned: toimovez the screws 98rupwardlyor downwardly so astocvaryt the tensioninithe springs'zfl and, therefore; the pressurewith. which; themuter setof: rollsare brought against-thecentral set.Itiwillb.e:seen further that this arrangement; automatically compensatesfor wear upon the rOllsin-thatthey are. gradually moved;-t0W&lld{'8&Chlothen as, the surface iserodedaway.

Whenthe frame. M -r is in: an approximately vertical 1 position: the.upper rolls 8.6. bean against the rims of the steel. discs zthandrAil-which. com:- prise the reel facesa Asrthe reel. rotates;.there.-- fore; the :rollers 86 will also be rotated-since X they are. swung intocontact. with. the reel edges; by acoil spring lflz hooked. throu h. anyof several holes [04. at thelower edge on a downwardly, ex-.-- tending.tab lzfliweldedltothalcwer member ot the frame M. The opposite end of,this spring is .attachedto .a .fitting. I06. positionedto the rightoftheirameflllh Inasmuchlasthe setsof 11311585, 8 ll. and .90 1 are.inucontact with. eachother in =1 that order, rotation. of. the. rolls85. will. drive .the rolls 8!) whichin-turn rotate therollssfl. P

Thelend of thestrapping. Hi-is passedfromlthe coilupon the. reelto theright.and-betweentthe intermediate. roll. 8.0.. andthellowerroll .90 andis held firmly between these pincnrolls ibecause-of the tension. inthesprings 941. Now. if. it-islase sumed that the end of the strappingisgrasped by. anoperator andpulled. outwardly, it will=;be seen that.the..reel. l0 willbecaused:torotate, It. is also apparent that since the.Outer. diameter. of, the. reel side; plates. 28. andjliiisilargerthanithe outer. diameter. of. the. coil. of. strapping. material, 10,theperipheral; velocity. of the. reeli-rimiwill-be. greater. than the.velocity. of movement. of the strapl'fl. being. payed from-.thereelaAlso, since. the. peripheral; velocity, assumin no slip of. the? threerolls 86, 80 and is the same asethattofi the .outer rim oil. the reel; Im-ittbeoomeaappanent -1 that the pinch rolls 80 and 90 whichgrigithestrapping tend to pull the strapping outwardly faster than it leaves thereel Ill. The result is that th portion of the strapping between thepinch rolls 8i? and Bil and the reel will be under some tension. As thistension assumes a value greater than the force in the opposite directionproduced by the spring E32, the lower end of the frame will moveslightly to the left thereby reducing the friction between the roll ill;and the rims of the reel Ill. ihe reel, therefore, slips relative to theroll 86 but does so under conditions which do not produce anyconsiderable degree of wear either upon the rims of the reel Ill or therolls 86. Conversely, any tendency for the tension in the portion of thestrap between the pinch rolls 8H and Si? and the reel Ill to becomeless, results in the driving roll at being urged more tightly againstthe reel rim If: thereby increasing the velocity of movement of thestrapping between the rolls 80 and 9G with the result that the slack isquickly taken up.

If it is assumed that the dispenser is powerdriven as by the motor 26,the same action takes place because any movement of the reel i!)tendingto pay out strap will be accompanied by rotation of the rolls 86with the result that the velocity of movement of the strapping betweenthe rolls 8d and 85 tends to be greater than that at which the reel canfeed it until the tension in the portion of the and all and the reelassumes a Value suiiicient to tilt the frame M and reduce the frictionaldrivin contact between the rolls Bil and the rims of the reel I 0.

Although it forms no part of the present invention and, therefore, needsno specific discussion, it is a convenience if the strapping passes fromthe pinch rolls Bil and 98, between a pair of angularly disposed guideplates I08, and then between cutter blades Ilil. One of these cuttingblades is fixed in a position above the plane of the strapping while thelower blade H9 is movable from beneath the strapping into a positionoverlapping the upper cutter blade I Iii so as to sever the strap. Thelower blade III] is moved upwardly in tracks by a transversely disposedrocking member I I 2, the outer end of which is secured to an upwardlyextending lever II :2. It is pivoted at a midpoint to a bolt I I whichpasses through cross plates Mil attached to the side bracket plates 12,and at its inner end bears against the upper edge of a second rockin armI20. This arm is pivoted at I22 with its opposite end bearing against aroller I24 which operates a valve mechanism I25 connected to deliver airto the compressed air motor 25. The linkage is such that when the upperend of the lever lid is moved inwardly slightly by the operator, the airvalve will open to deliver compressed air to the motor 2E5 therebydriving the reel I ii and dispensing the strapping. When the lever is ina neutral position the machine is at rest, whereas when the lever ispulled outwardly the strapping will be cut off. thereby preparing thedevice to deliver an additional length of strapping.

From the above description of a preferred embodiment of my invention itwill be seen that strapping can be dispensed under power from a reelwhile under complete control and without appreciable wear upon themechanism by an arrangement which can be provided at extremely low cost.It is further apparent that the iden tical arrangement can also be usedif the device is of the type in which strappin is pulled out by hand, orin which the reel is rotated by hand to strapping between the rolls 8d 6push out the strapping, since the machine shown is adapted for this modeof operation if the belt in is simply removed from the pulley 22. Ofcourse, as a matter of fact, if the machine is intended for manualoperation solely, certain of the parts shown obviously may be omittedfrom the structure.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention,it will be apparent that numerous variations and modifications thereofmay be made without departing from the underlying principles of theinvention. I, therefore, desire, by the following claims, to includewithin the scope of the invention all such variations and modificationsby which substantially the results of my invention may be obtainedthrough the use of substantially the same or equivalent means.

I claim:

1. In a device for feeding continuous material from a coil, a rotatablereel to hold said coil, a pair of rotatable pinch rolls for grippingsaid material between them and paying out said material as said rollsrotate, a rotatable drive member connected for driving said rolls, meansmounting said drive member, pivot means mounting said mounting means forswinging said drive member into frictional engagement with said reel andaway therefrom, resilient means connected to urge said drive member intoengagement with said reel, said drive member when in engagement withsaid reel tending to drive said pinch rolls at a higher peripheralvelocity than said coil so as to develop tension in the portion of saidmaterial between said pinch rolls and said coil, and said pivot meansbeing so located that said tension opposes said resilient means andtends to move said drive member away from said reel to cause slipbetween said drive member and said reel to reduce the drive to saidpinch rolls.

2. In a device for feeding continuous material from a coil, a rotatablereel to hold said coil, a pair of rotatable pinch rolls for grippingsaid material between them and paying out said material as said rollsrotate, a rotatable drive member connected for driving said rolls, meansmounting said drive member, means including a pivot mounting said lastnamed means for swinging said drive member into frictional engagementwith said reel and away therefrom, resilient means connected to urgesaid drive member into engagement with said reel, said drive member whenin engagement with said reel tending to drive said pinch rolls at ahigher peripheral velocity than said coil so as to develop tension inthe portion of said material between said pinch rolls and said coil,said pivot being so located that said tension opposes said resilientmeans and tends to move said drive member away from said reel to causeslip between said drive member and said reel to reduce the drive to saidpinch rolls, and power means for rotating said reel.

3. In a device for feeding continuous material from a coil, a rotatablereel to hold said coil, a pair of rotatable pinch rolls for grippingsaid ma terial between them and paying out said material as said rollsrotate, a rotatable drive member connected for driving said rolls, aframe for journaling said rolls and said drive member, means mountingsaid frame for pivoting movement to swing said drive member intofrictional engagement with said reel and away therefrom, resilient meansconnected to urge said frame in one direction to bring said drive memberinto engagement with said reel, said drive member when in engagement:with; said reel tending, todrive; said; pinch-rolls atia higher.peripheral velocity than said coil so as to develop, tension in theportion.

ofsaid: material. between said. pinch rolls and said'coil, and saidpivot means being located on: said-framebetween the point of contactonsaid rive member with said reel and the-point of: tangency of saidpinch rolls with. saidmaterial s= that said tension: on said pinch rollstends to swing saidframe in the other direction-away fromsaid reel to.cause'slip between-said drive: memberandsaid reel-toreducethe drive-tosaid pinch rolls. 7

4; In a device-for feeding'continuous material from a coil, a rotatablereel tohold said: coil, a; pair of" rotatable-pinch: rolls for grippingsaidmateriaLbetween themand paying: out saidma-' terial as said rollsrotate, a rotatable drive-member connected for driving said rolls, meansmountingsaid drive member andsaid pinch rolls, means including a.pivotmounting said last named means for.- swinging; said drive-membertoward and into frictional engagement-' w-ith said reel and awaytherefrom, saidmounting means moving saidpinch rolls away. from saidreel when said drivemember is moved towardsaid reel, resilientmeansconnected to urge said drive member into engagement with. said reel andsaid pinchrolls away from said reel, said drive member when in engagement with said reel tending to drive said pinch rollsata higherperipheral velocity than. said, coil: so i as to develop tens-ion in.the portion of saidmaterial-between said-pinch rolls and said coil,.andsaid pivotibeingso located that saiditenesion; opposes said. resilient.means and tends to move said pinch rolls toward-said reel and said drivemember away from said reel to cause slip between saiddrive-member andsaid reel to reduce the drive to-said pinch rollsd 5: Ina device forfeeding; continuous materialfrom. a coil;,a rotatable reel to holdsaidcoil; a pairof rotatable-pinch: rolls for gripping said material betweenthem andipaying out said material assaidirolls rotate, a friction drivememberconnected when in-a certain position to drive said rolls from saidreel, means mounting said/ drive member; means including,a1pivot'mounting;

- drive member into said-certain position, said drive member when insaidcertain position tending to drive said-pinchrolls'at ahigherperipheral veloc--- ity than said coil-so' as to develop tension.- inthe": portion of said material betweenzsaid pinchirolls: and saidcoil,and said pivot being so located that. said tension opposes saidresilient means and: tends-to movesaiddrive member away from=saidcertain position i to cause slip between said: drive. member and saidreelto reduce the drive'to said pinch irolls.

In a device for feeding.continuousmaterialr from. a coil, arotatable-reeltoholdsaid=coil,,a pair of rotatable pinch rollsfor'gripping said; material: between. them and paying out. said.- ma.terial'. assaid rollsrotate, adrive member l'Oe tatably mounted'onanaxis other than-theaxes: of saidpinch-rolls, a frame mounting said pinchrolls and said drive member, means pivotally mounting said frame on anaxis of rotation. of one of, said pinch. rollsfor swinging said drivemember intofrictional engagement. with: saids reel. and away therefrom,resilientmeans con-- nected to saidframe'to swing said drive member intoengagement with said reel, said drive mem-- ber when in engagement withsaid reel tending. to drive said. pinch rollsat a higher peripheralvelocity thansaid coil so as to develop a. tension inthe portion of.said material between'saidpinch rolls and said coil, and said tensionopposing. said:

- resilient meansand-tending to-swing saiddrive member away from. saidree1 to. causeslip-be tween said drive member and .saidreel to reducethe drive to said pinchrolls.

References Cited in the file of this. patent UNITED STATES. PATENTSNumber Name Date 1',563;3'82' Legg Dec. 1, 1925 1,867,596 Roseman July19?, I932 2,506,354 Green May z, 1950

